Ryan Gosling in talks to topline “Blade Runner” sequel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Ryan Gosling is in negotiations to star in Alcon Entertainment’s sequel to “Blade Runner”, which is being directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Prisoners”) and executive produced by Ridley Scott, the company announced, according to TheWrap.

Harrison Ford will co-star as Rick Deckard, the role he portrayed in the original film directed by Scott.

Principal photography is set to start in summer of 2016. Hampton Fancher (co-writer of the original) and Michael Green have written the original screenplay, based on an idea by Fancher and Scott.

The story takes place several decades after the conclusion of the 1982 original. Alcon is not revealing story details or Gosling’s character.

Alcon Entertainment acquired the prequel and sequel film, television and ancillary franchise rights to the iconic science-fiction thriller “Blade Runner” in 2011 from producers Bud Yorkin and Cynthia Sikes Yorkin, who will serve as producers on the sequel along Alcon Entertainment co-founders and co-CEO’s Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson. Frank Giustra and Tim Gamble, CEOs of Thunderbird Films, will serve as executive producers.

Gosling will be seen next in Shane Black’s “The Nice Guys” opposite Russell Crowe, and in Terrence Malick’s “Weightless.” He’s currently filming Adam McKay’s “The Big Short” with Christian Bale, Brad Pitt and Steve Carrell.

Gosling recently confirmed TheWrap’s exclusive report that he’ll star in Guillermo del Toro’s “Haunted Mansion” for Disney. He’s also in talks to join Emma Stone in Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land,” which is slated to film this fall.

Villeneuve’s upcoming feature film “Sicario,” a drug-trafficking drama from Black Label Media starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, has been recently announced in Competition at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Villeneuve previously worked with Kosove and Johnson as the director of Alcon’s critically acclaimed thriller “Prisoners.”

Adapted from Philip K. Dick‘s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” the original “Blade Runner” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1993 and is frequently taught in university courses. In 2007, it was named the 2nd most visually influential film of all time by the Visual Effects Society.

Gosling earned an Oscar nomination for “Half Nelson”.